Last year I had a new furnace installed and had fiberglass threads coming from the vents. I discovered that the air space where the return air traveled had uncovered insulation (house built in the 70's). I had that sealed, but still had dark dust that looked like fiberglass on surfaces afterwards. I am now getting my furnace ready for the winter...cleaning the filter, etc. and discovered that there is a fiberglass insultating mask inside the air handler...on the other side of my electostatic filter. The insulation has been compromised in several places and falls off easily.

Is this standard to have fiberglass insulation inside the air handler on a new furnace? If there was a resin applied to this material, it didn't hold it together well. How can I have it removed so that it doesn't get further contaminate the system? (I live in San Diego, and it doesn't get that cold where the furnace is located.) The air in this whole space gets sucked into the fan. I have an asthmatic son that had the worst asthma of his life all winter after this new furnace was installed. The furnace is still on the 1 year labor warrenty...can I have the company that installed this remove it? (I did tell them about my son, asked for a special filter and asked them to be careful since we had air quality concerns.)

Thank you for your advice!

11-01-2012, 02:19 PM

mechanical'al

well most mnfg. use a black matt fiberglass as an insulater and sound dedner which is likly more important in cooling the heat
ive also noticed durring instalation of a furnace it often gets desturbed due to return air cuts to the side of said unit
without it the outer skin may condensate causing other asthmatic issues
though you should sure call them back to remedy it in one way or another before out of warranty

11-01-2012, 08:00 PM

energy_rater_La

can you post pictures?

what type of ductwork do you have
hard pipe ducting or flex duct?

"I discovered that the air space where the return air traveled had uncovered insulation (house built in the 70's). I had that sealed"

can you elaborate on this? return was in wall chase? what type of insulation
was uncovered & how was it addressed.

pictures of this area would also help.

11-07-2012, 04:58 PM

dhoren

I did call the installer back and he claims that all carriers have this black matt fiberglass in the air handler. He claims that there is no way to remove it without getting more fiberglass into the system.

Couldn't he remove the side panels and remove the fiberglass away from the rest of the system? My last carrier had no insulatation in the handler and was not an issue. No noise and no condensation. The furnace is in the garage...not much temperature swing here in San Diego. He is refusing to do anything, even though you can visually see that it is ripped and flaking off.

What do you suggest?

11-07-2012, 05:20 PM

energy_rater_La

I suggest that you post some pics so that we can see what you
are talking about.

I'd hesitate to start removing insulation unless I could be
sure to get it all. once you remove the covering of the insulation
there is nothing to keep the particles in place.
this rather than helping, would worsen the problem.

the type of ductwork
and what was done inside the return are also
things that would help us to answer your questions.

just addressing part of the issue doesn't solve your child's
breathing issues.
please provide more information.

best of luck.

11-07-2012, 05:30 PM

dhoren

Thank you for trying to help. The insulation near the ducts and air space was removed and sealed up by a reputable company. My question is about the insulation in the air handler in the furnace

11-07-2012, 05:54 PM

beshvac

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhoren

Thank you for trying to help. The insulation near the ducts and air space was removed and sealed up by a reputable company. My question is about the insulation in the air handler in the furnace

I wish people would quit saying "it was done by a reputable company" What did they do? and What does it look like?

the insulation in equipment is not open fibers.

To the OP: Energy rater is highly skilled in duct and house sealing. TRUELY REPUTABLE

11-07-2012, 06:56 PM

5thRoot

I have seen plenty of units with insulation with open fibers. But then again most common insulation has open fibers. I have also seen the insulation on the inside of blower cabinets deteriorate rather quickly so the situation you have described is not uncommon. That said there are some options and none are particularly easy. The insulation can be removed and if done carefully it wont put too much in the air stream. It would be an involved process, depending on where in the air handler the insulation is and how its attached. A lot of variables here that I dont have enough info to elaborate on. The insulation can then be replaced. I dont know about Carrier but you can order new insulation from Trane so I imagine Carrier could do it too. But it could also be replace with some other insulation, such as a foil backed duct wrap style insulation or even a closed cell foam insulation. Both are time consuming and complicated to do because it will most likely be necessary to disassemble a large portion of the air handler.

11-08-2012, 10:20 AM

SBKold

Did you by any chance have UV lights installed?

11-08-2012, 10:45 AM

toocoolforschool

Quote:

Originally Posted by SBKold

Did you by any chance have UV lights installed?

X2 Deteriation of insulation.
ALSO TO THE OP. If your son has such bad asthma did you install a high efficeincy air filter or do you use that worthless 1 inch pleated filter from home depot.